This invention relates to a railway fastening anchor and clip, particularly to a clip for fastening a rail to a base such as a sleeper or crosstie and more particularly to the fastening of a rail to a concrete sleeper or crosstie.
Rails are known to be fastened to concrete sleepers by various fastening means such as clips or the like, the clips engaging the rail flange and also an anchor embedded into or attached to the sleeper.
One such known fastening means is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,006 where each sleeper has embedded therein four shoulders each of inverted U shape. These shoulders are formed of sheet metal to a critical shape and have an opening for the toe of a clip to be inserted under the shoulder and be locked into and engaging in a recess formed in the shoulder. Each of the components, the shoulder and the clip have to be formed by complex forging or bending operations.
United Kingdom Patent No. 2,097,453 also discloses a clip assembly for attachment of a rail to a wooden sleeper in which the anchoring members are located in holes in the wooden sleeper and anchored therein by an epoxy resin. The anchoring members are formed by pressing an elongate flat piece of steel. Clips of complex C shape are driven under the anchoring members in a direction along the length of the rail. The clips and anchoring members are formed by forming and bending.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,885 describes an L shaped anchor embedded in the concrete sleeper. A clip of spring metal having a multiple curved cross section in which the curved members undulate is inserted under the L shaped anchor and engages the rail flange at one end. The other end of the clip engages a pad on the sleeper.
Further examples of clips attaching rails to a sleeper are shown In U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,343 and Australian Patent No. 576830.
However as noted various of the known systems require complex forging operations of flat sheet metal to form the clips and/or the anchorages, and also in various of the known systems there does not appear to be any provision for preventing the clip from becoming dislodged. This is particularly so where the clip is inserted longitudinally of the rail.
Thus it is an object of the invention to provide a rail fastening system in which the component parts are easy to manufacture. A further object of the invention is to provide a rail fastening system in which each of the component parts are simply formed, the anchor is formed by a simple forging or casting operation and the clip by a simple bending operation of a steel rod.
Another object of the invention is to provide a rail fastening system in which the clip is virtually prevented from becoming loose and dislodged by the passage of trains along the rails or by rail expansion and contraction.
Thus there is provided according to the invention a rail fastening means having an anchor and a clip for securely fastening a rail on a sleeper, crosstie or other base, the anchor being embedded in and extending from the surface of the sleeper or crosstie spaced from the position of the rail on the sleeper or crosstie and having at least one portion extending laterally of the anchor and spaced from the surface of the sleeper or crosstie, said clip engaging under at least one laterally extending portion to engage a flange of the rail at one end thereof with the other end supported by the sleeper or crosstie, said clip having a pair of arms resiliently biased to engage the anchor to firmly locate the clip relative to the anchor and locate the rail in position on the sleeper.
There is also provided according to the invention an anchor and clip for securely locating a rail on a sleeper, crosstie or other base, the anchor comprising a post or the like embedded in the sleeper or crosstie, the post having a head spaced from the surface of the sleeper or crosstie, and the clip engaging under the headed, one end of the clip engaging the rail flange and the other end engaging the sleeper or crosstie, the clip having a pair of arms resiliently biased to each other so that when in use they engage opposite surfaces of the post.
There is also provided according to the invention a rail fastening means, said means including an anchor embedded into a sleeper, and a clip to engage under the anchor and engage on the rail flange and the sleeper at a position spaced from the anchor, said anchor being U shaped with legs embedded in the sleeper and an upper generally horizontal fulcrum, the clip being generally C shaped with opposite sides of the C being a mirror image of each other and having recesses within which the legs of the anchor engage, with the upper portion of the clip engaging the undersurface of the fulcrum.